


TXT Oneshots: Tales of Blue Hour's Native Residents

by Flaw_lostin94



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Adorable Choi Soobin, Adorable Huening Kai, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Music, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Alternate Universe - Spring Day (BTS Music Video), Animal Transformation, Bears, Best Friends Choi Soobin & Huening Kai, Cat/Human Hybrids, Cute Choi Soobin, Cute Huening Kai, Dimension Travel, Dreams, Ducks, Fantasy, Ferris Wheels, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluff without Plot, Foxes, I'm Sorry, Inspired by Music, Mentioned Choi Beomgyu, Mentioned Choi Soobin, Mentioned Choi Yeonjun, Mentioned Huening Kai, Mentioned Kang Taehyun, Minor Choi Soobin/Huening Kai, Music, Musical Instruments, Musical References, Penguins, Shapeshifting, Soft Choi Yeonjun, Soft Huening Kai, Sorry Not Sorry, Squirrels, The Author Regrets Nothing, This Author is Inactive, Tigers, Unicorns, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27930316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flaw_lostin94/pseuds/Flaw_lostin94
Summary: In a faraway dimension, there is a magical land called Blue Hour where five shape-shifting humans reside. With a huge knack for curiosity, they are bound to get caught up in beautiful adventures.This series will have one update per week.
Kudos: 7





	1. Who Are the Residents of Blue Hour?

The magical dimension of Blue Hour is home to five curious, fun-loving residents. They are also shape-shifters, able to turn into multiple animals based on their unique identities. (not to mention they are super lovable and squishy~) All personality traits for below are taken from the TXT Wiki site:

Choi Soobin  
Shapeshifts into - squishy pink bunny, white puppy (reminiscent of Sean)  
Personality traits:  
hobbies and specialties: reading, listening to music, spacing out  
loves to eat, Bread lover, Tallest in group, have chubby face  
has mochi skin  


Choi Yeonjun  
Shapeshifts into - fox cub, red panda cub, kitten, duckling  
Personality traits:  
hobbies & specialties: dancing, skate boarding, eating.  
Sentimental, he once cried after reading a poem.  


Choi Beomgyu  
Shapeshifts into - bear cub, tiger cub, chipmunk  
Personality traits:  
hobbies and specialties: playing guitar  
nicknames: Bamkyu, Cookies  
master of cuteness  


Kang Taehyun  
Shapeshifts into - squirrel, fluffy calico cat  
Personality traits:  
hobbies and specialties: playing football, swimming  
nickname: lovely  
well defined eyes, nose, lips  


Kai Kamal Huening  
Shapeshifts into - deer, unicorn, baby penguin  
Personality traits:  
hobbies and specialties: playing instruments  
nickname: Hyukai, Ningning  
loves skinship, especially touching Soobin's belly  
he's a music genius, he can play the piano, guitar, drum, etc

Visual inspiration for this series (all credits to the creator for this image): https://twitter.com/quadjunnie/status/1233514570850979841

This series will have one update per week.


	2. What Happens at 5:53 PM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The five residents of Blue Hour, await for the white curtain to open which leads to an alternate dimension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TXT's 'Blue Hour' will set the scene and also be the inspiration for this oneshot.
> 
> **DISCLAIMER: This series has no connection with the actual universe and theories established by TXT and Bighit Entertainment. This is my own interpretation of the settings in the MV with a 'plotline' that will cross over with other TXT MV's.**

**BUMP**

_ “HYUNGS! WAKE UP!” _

_ “Oof! OW!” _

_ “Aigoo, Hyukai-ssi, how many times have I told you not to scream to wake everyone up..?” _

_ “You can stop poking my belly now…” _

_ “And get your foot away from my face!” _

Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, and Taehyun had been in the midst of having a peaceful nap in the late afternoon, cuddled up together in a heap on the forest floor. That is, until Huening Kai pounced onto all of them.

They slowly and painfully untangled themselves from each other. Beomgyu swatted Kai’s foot away from his face. Yeonjun and Taehyun rubbed their sore bellies, both of whom got the worst of the pain from Kai’s jump and tried to crawl out from under him. Kai still lay horizontally across all of them, poking Soobin’s soft stomach and squishing his cheeks.

_ “Ugh, I was having such a good nap. Why’d you wake us up, Hyukai-ssi?” _ Taehyun groaned, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

_ “Yeah, I was having the best dream ever. We were all famous idols and everyone loved our music and personalities. Such a luxurious life! And then it was gone when I woke up, hu hu hu,” _ Yeonjun whined.

_ “Sorry everyone, but I’m excited! It’s almost 5:53!” _ Kai said, pausing in his poking of Soobin’s belly and pointing towards something shimmering in the distance. At this, everyone’s eyes grew wide at what Kai said and all turned to the same direction. Kai was right: a white curtain had materialised. This curtain always appeared at the same time, 5:53, and led to a different dimension for them to explore.

They started to help each other up quickly. They had been napping in a clearing, with paths that branched out to various places. From as far as the eye could see, only forest was around them: purple and pink trees whose leaves nearly blended with the pink clouds in the purple sky, iridescent blue and green plants that sprouted from the yellow ground, and light warming them in the air.

_ “Ah, Chief Squirrel should be here by now!” _ Beomgyu announced, looking around for their animal friend.  _ “Hmmm, it seems he’s a bit late today…” _

_ “Wonder where he is. We need him to make sure if it’s safe behind the curtain,” _ Soobin interjected with a clingy Kai hugging him from the back, his thin, sweatered arms wrapped tightly around Soobin’s torso like a koala.

_ “Hey, Squirrel-nim!” _ Taehyun suddenly called out, looking upwards to something in a tree. The rest turned to where he was waving to see a large squirrel in a purple hoodie perched in a tree. He nearly blended in with the purple bark, and, if it wasn’t for Taehyun’s squirrel sense, they probably would have continued to go on not noticing him.

Chief Squirrel darted down the tree towards Taehyun whose face was glowing ecstatically, apparently pleased to meet his fellow squirrel again. In a split second, Taehyun had shapeshifted from his human form into a squirrel in a beige, woolen sweater. He chattered away excitedly with the Chief in their squirrel language while the rest looked on with curiosity.

_ “Psst, Beomgyu-ssi,” _ Yeonjun whispered.  _ “Is there anything that you can make out from their conversation?” _

_ “I can catch a few words,” _ Beomgyu slowly replied. “ _ Something about humans and the other side and it being safe, but that’s all…” _ He sighed sadly.  _ “Squirrel language is a bit different to chipmunk language as they’re dialects of one another. Our ‘tsk tsk’, ‘chititititi’, and the times when we have to sniffle between sentences are different. Ah! and also when we have to wipe our faces. It’s a means of being polite but the way we chipmunks do it is different from squirrels’.” _

Yeonjun stared at Beomgyu in utter confusion as he explained and recreated his chipmunk habits, wishing he hadn’t asked at all. He had no idea what a ‘chititititi’ was supposed to mean and his brain was going into overdrive to comprehend it. However, Taehyun had just finished his conversation with the Chief and was back in his human form before they knew it.

_ “Chief said it’s safe on the other side. This time there’s a huuuuuuuuuge meadow  _ (here Taehyun extended his arms to emphasize how big it was) _ with a GIANT circle  _ (here he extended his sweatered arms even wider, making everyone gasp in awe) _ in the distance. It seems like there’s no one there so we can explore as much as we want!” _

At Taehyun’s confirmation, all of them cheered and rushed towards the area where the curtain would be billowing in the breeze, racing to be the first one to dash through. It was only a hundred meter sprint away from their napping clearing and Yeonjun, being the competitive one out of the bunch, made it through first, zipping through the slit in the white, translucent sheet and onto the meadow of the other dimension followed by the others.

_ “AAAAAHHHHH! No fair! I almost had you!” _ Taehyun shouted after Yeonjun. Yeonjun turned back to make a ‘bleh’ face at him, and, in return, almost got hit by Taehyun’s flying kick.

_ “Wah! Chief really wasn’t kidding when he said everything was big,” _ Soobin exclaimed, bringing everyone’s attention to their new surroundings. The meadow spread out before them was nothing but smooth, green grass, swaying gently in the wind. The meadow seemed to extend for kilometers, and, in the far distance, the giant circle Chief had mentioned could be seen rotating at a snail’s pace amongst the orange clouds in this dimension’s sunset. This giant circle was actually a Ferris wheel (though none of them knew that) and the many lightbulbs on each of the carriages were mere yellow dots that seemed to sparkle to the newcomers.

_ “Ooohh!” _ Kai exclaimed, his big eyes shining with wonder.  _ “I wonder if we can ride it?” _

_ “It seems quite far away,” _ Beomgyu remarked.  _ “I don’t think we will make it there before it gets dark.” _

_ “Eh? There’s something else in the distance,” _ Yeonjun said, trying to shield his eyes from the bright, orange sun of this world to make out what it was.  _ “It looks like...unicorns...circling a colorful...tent?” _ At this, Kai perked up at Yeonjun’s observation and turned the same way.

_ “Unicorns? Where? I’m coming, my fellow brethren!” _ Kai shouted, locating the carousel (again, none of them knew it was called that) and running as fast as he could towards it. The rest followed suit to look after their maknae.

When the rest finally arrived, Kai had already shapeshifted into his unicorn form and was trying to talk to the unicorns rotating on the carousel to no avail.

_ “These unicorns don’t talk,” _ Kai pouted, his eyes downcast again, after shapeshifting into human form.  _ “Do they not like me?” _

_ “No, no,” _ Soobin rushed over to console the youngest,  _ “it seems that they can’t. See, their bodies are stony, unlike yours. They might not be living and are just a part of this...tent.” _ The youngest was still sad when Soobin looked at him.

_ “Um, maybe since you can’t ride the circle, you can ride the unicorns instead? They will let you, I think.” _ Kai immediately brightened up at this notion and nodded vigorously with a smile at Soobin before rushing onto the carousel. He quickly managed to jump onto one of the unicorns and held onto the stick connected to the horse hangar, squealing with glee as he spun round and round.

_ “This is fun! Hyungs, you should try it too!” _ Kai barely managed to say as he continued being spun by the horse.

The others quickly climbed on, wanting to join in on the fun, each nabbing a horse for themselves. In the distance, the boys’ shouts of happiness could be heard across the meadow and the lights of the carousel twinkled in the dimming light of the sun. Before they knew it, the sun was already halfway below the horizon. Suddenly, the carousel stopped spinning, the lights dying like snuffed-out candles.

_ “Eh? No! Keep going!” _ Kai exclaimed, urging his horse to move to no avail.

_ “Aigoo, maybe we should stop… I’m dizzy…” _ Yeonjun said, climbing off his horse and collapsing in the grass.  _ “Ugh, the world is still spinning,” _ he groaned as he held his head.

_ “Yeah, maybe we should go back. It seems here, nighttime exists,” _ Beomgyu remarked while joining Yeonjun in the grass.

_ “Haha, there’s two Soobins, and two Ning-nings,” _ Taehyun giggled as he wobbled off the carousel.

They all were now lying in the grass, soaking up the warmth of the last few rays of the sun, still giddy from their amusement. It was like this for a while, no one saying a word. It was unknown how much time had passed, but eventually Kai let out a small noise that made everyone whip their heads towards him. He was fast asleep, a hand tucked under his cheek.

_ “We should go home,” _ Yeonjun simply said. The rest nodded in agreement.

They walked steadily back to the slit in the curtain, back to their own dimension that was home. Soobin carried the sleeping Kai on his back, leading the way. One by one, they crossed through and the curtain sealed itself shut before disappearing.

_ “Hmmm?” _ Kai opened a sleepy eye.

_ “We’re home now,” _ Soobin looked at the maknae on his back, smiling at Kai’s cute yawn.

_ “I’m thirsty.” _

_ “One of our drinking stations is near here. We’ll get you some water soon.” _

_ “Hurry up, Beomgyu!” _ Taehyun called out to said person. Beomgyu quickly joined him and they rushed off after Soobin, Kai, and Yeonjun.

Unbeknownst to the others, Beomgyu had been silently staring at where the curtain had dematerialised. He had not said anything since they came back home, pondering over how he thought he had seen Chief guiding five boys that looked just like them back to the dimension they had just exited.

_ “Awwww!” _ Yeonjun exclaimed in frustration just as Taehyun and Beomgyu came.  _ “What happened to the water?” _

They all looked at the purple leaf where their water supply (an oversized water droplet) had once been and then down at the ground where it was now, splattered like a drop of paint. Beomgyu’s eyes widened in shock at what he saw. However, the others didn’t notice.

_ “Guess we’ll use our other water supply at home,” _ Soobin motioned for the others to follow him and they ran off.

As Beomgyu ran, the sight of the water on the ground highlighting a pair of shoeprints that had not been there when they left stayed in his mind. It seemed that someone had entered their own dimension just as they had entered the other.

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. Author here. Thanks for reading this oneshot. I'll be writing their dimensional journeys every third week and will focus on their daily events within the Blue Hour dimension. Please look forward to it!


	3. Musical Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The five residents of Blue Hour enjoy their hobbies as passionate music-lovers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs referenced: Blue Orangeade, Cat and Dog, Crown, Our Summer, Magic Island
> 
> **DISCLAIMER: This series has no connection with the actual universe and theories established by TXT and Bighit Entertainment. This is my own interpretation of the settings in the MV with a 'plotline' that will cross over with other TXT MV's.**

The purple forest of Blue Hour was peaceful: birds chirped happily in the branches, butterflies softly beat their wings around various plants, and the sun stayed hovered over the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange, purple, and pink.

**BA DUMMM TSSSSS**

The silence has now been shattered and the birds flapping hurriedly away from their branches. So much for peaceful quiet.

In a clearing, Huening Kai, seated at a drum set, raised his drumsticks in the air to start playing a beat. He was about to bring the drumsticks down on the cymbals once again when:

_ “WAAAAAAIT!” _ Kai’s hyungs shouted all at once. They all proceed to drop immediately what they were doing and rush to a chest. They each hurriedly grabbed a pair of earmuffs from the chest and yanked them down over their ears.

_ “Ok, you can begin now!” _ Yeonjun notioned to Kai, his voice a bit raised as the earmuffs were sealed tightly over his precious ears.

Kai nodded with an innocent grin and began his twenty-minute-long drum routine, bringing the drumsticks down on the drums in tune to the beat. Alternating between snare patterns, hi-hats, and beat drops, Kai nodded his head in time with his routine, eventually getting lost in the music.

His hyungs, however, carried on with their own things. They knew better than to try and make conversation over the sound of the drums which could be heard from anywhere through the forest: not worth the risk of their eardrums shattering from being in such close proximity to the vibrations.

Beomgyu was reading a book and nodding his head to the beat of Kai’s drum routine, or rather, what he could hear of the beat anyways. Soobin was munching on a sausage bun while watching his passionate maknae. Yeonjun and Taehyun were busy looking over the various instruments present, planning to conduct their own routines after Kai was done with the drums.

This spot in the forest was where the Blue Hour residents stored all of their things related to music, courtesy of multiple wishes at the Blue Hour wishing well (that’s a story for another time). Not only was there the humongous drum set in the middle, they had a shiny grand piano, a keyboard, an electric guitar, a bass guitar, a couple of harmonicas and tambourines, a DJ set for mixing beats, and various exercise books and notebooks with their own notes and lyrics scribbled-in. Each one even had their own acoustic guitar with different designs on the body to signify which guitar was whose. There were enough instruments in the ‘Music Corner’ to hold multiple mini concerts, that is, if there had been anyone else in Blue Hour other than the five of them.

With a final clash of the cymbals, Kai ended his drum routine with Soobin clapping enthusiastically. He stayed still on the seat for a while, trying to catch his breath, before throwing the drumsticks to some random place and throwing himself into Soobin’s arms.

_ “Waaaa, now I’m tired, Soobin-hyung. Let me use you as a pillow,” _ Kai said, leaning against Soobin and letting his body go limp. Soobin shapeshifted at that moment into a white dog with soft, fluffy fur and Kai immediately sank his face into the fur with a groan of lethargy.

_ “Ok, it’s my turn now,” _ Yeonjun announced, whipping out his acoustic guitar with an almond-colored body and black vine-shaped patterns.  _ “Witness the legendary performance of the one and only, Choi Yeonjun,” _ he finished with a dramatic expression on his face and a fancy flourish of his hand. He strummed a chord on the guitar.

_ “You like 2Pac, I like Biggie Biggie _

_ Neon gang-aji, nan kitty kitty _

_ Ulin S, tto N jaseog gat-a _

_ Ne yeop-e jonjaehaeya wanbyeoghangeol--” _

_ “Noooooo. Aigoo. Oh my god. My ears. What is that horrible noise?” _ Beomgyu had finally snapped out of his reading trance and now had the book on his head trying to shield his eardrums from Yeonjun’s rap.

_ “This is called rapping. You know hip-hop, yo? My man? You can’t comprehend my amazing, one-of-a-kind rap skills, haha,” _ Yeonjun laughed as he strummed another chord before launching into another rap line.

_ “Let’s-. Play-. For-. Ever-. I just-. Wanna-. Be yo-. DOG!” _

_ “No, no, no, no, no,” _ Taehyun shook his head, stopping Yeonjun’s rap and strumming.  _ “Today is not rap day, shoo shoo, let me show you how it’s done.” _ With that Taehyun shooed Yeonjun aside to sit in his place on the ground with his own honey-brown guitar, the ray’s of a white sun shining from the sound hole. He began to use a strumming pattern, playing the strings with skill and singing the high notes of his song perfectly.

_ “Meorie ppuri sosa _ _   
_ _ But I love it _ _   
_ _ Neon nae wanggwani doeji _ _   
_ _ Dugeundugeun dugeundaeneun gamgak _ _   
_ _ Shimjangeun daehollan _ _   
_ _ But I love it _ _   
_ _ Biroso wanbyeokhaejin _ _   
_ _ Uri duri duri durijana _ _   
_ _ Oh oh oh oh oh _ _   
_ __ Oeroum meomchweora masuri suri--”

_ “Sorry to interrupt, hyung, but I thought you’re supposed to be happy that you have a horn on your head in this song,” _ Huening Kai interrupted, leaning against the soft, fluffy body of Soobin’s dog form and listening to the chaos.

_ “But I am happy. Anyways let’s continue: oh oh oh oh oh~, YA YA YA--” _

_ “I thought you said today wasn’t rap day,” _ Yeonjun scowled.

_ “But I’m not rapping-!!” _

_ “To be honest, that last part sounded like me in my dog form,” _ Soobin interjected, shapeshifting into his human form to input his comment.

_ “Agh, stop teasing me, you all and your weird tastes, hu hu hu,” _ Taehyun pretend-sobbed, setting down his guitar.

_ “Then, in that case, it’s my turn,” _ Beomgyu set down his book and stood up, rolling the sleeves of his sweater and stretching his arms and back.

_ “Oooohh, the guitar master is going to play! Bamkyu-hyung always has good choices in songs!” _ Kai said excitedly, his eyes shining with admiration.

_ “But I will need some help to make this song good. Soobin-hyung! Get a tambourine! Hyukai-ssi! You’re on keyboard! Turn on the synthesizer to the sound effects we used for ‘Our Summer’!” _ Soobin and Kai quickly stood up, obeying Beomgyu’s orders to prepare the instruments he wanted to add. Beomgyu stood in the middle, tuning his sunset-themed guitar by ear like an expert, flexing his master skills. Yeonjun and Taehyun sat down on the ground to listen as Beomgyu began to sing the harmonious notes.

_ “Geu sog-e yeong-won-ui yagsog-i chanlanhage bichna _

_ Sangsanghandamyeon gyesog midneundamyeon nega issdaneun geol _

_ Nun-ap-e pyeolchyeojin geon uyusbich eunhasu pieonan geumbich gyejeol like our summer _

_ Eodie iss-eodo eotteon gyejeol-edo uliga hamkkelamyeon feel like summer” _

Kai hit the synth notes for the instrumentals on point in tune with Beomgyu’s vocals and strumming and Soobin stood beside Kai dancing while tapping the tambourine against his other hand. Yeonjun and Taehyun before long had also gotten up to dance beside Beomgyu and the forest area was now filled with the song called “Our Summer”. The song eventually ended as the rest applauded Beomgyu who absorbed it with pride.

\---

In the far away distance of the Blue Hour forest, five angelic voices could be heard singing in harmony, five different guitars strummed and plucked magical notes that drifted into the air, and the beautiful song that came together had unknowingly reached the ears of five students in a subway car travelling to Tteokseom.


	4. Did I Wake You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soobin just can't help but love Huening Kai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TXT's 'Nap of a Star' will set the scene for this oneshot.
> 
> **DISCLAIMER: This series has no connection with the actual universe and theories established by TXT and Bighit Entertainment. This is my own interpretation of the settings in the MV with a 'plotline' that will cross over with other TXT MV's.**

Soobin lay his head against Huening Kai’s legs with his eyes closed, basking in the lovely notes Kai was plucking with the guitar strings. A soft breeze ran through his blue hair and blue blouse and the faint smell of smeraldos wafted past his nose. 

It was just Soobin and Kai alone in this vast field, purple grass swaying in the breeze, and littered amongst this grass were white-and-blue smeraldo flowers that danced lazily. The sky was an inky indigo sea, a vast contrast to the purple-and-pink of Blue Hour. However, a sparkling white supermoon hovered on the horizon, chasing away the darkness of the sky and shining down on the peaceful couple.

Soobin slowly opened his eyes and turned his head ever so slightly to the side. Huening Kai was completely immersed in his guitar playing. His dainty fingers plucked the strings of his cream-colored guitar; the other hand sliding across the iridescent neck to form the chords. Kai was dressed all in white: a pair of white pants with only a white cloak covering his torso, the sharp angles of his collarbone barely seen underneath the fabric. A flower crown of white roses adorned Kai’s wavy chocolate hair and Soobin’s breath nearly hitched in his throat at the sight.

Huening Kai, Soobin’s little maknae, looked perfectly like an angel before him.

Feeling the intense stare of his hyung, Kai looked up and smiled, pausing in his playing. The night fell silent once again as the notes ceased.

_ “Hello, hyung,” _ Kai gently spoke. Soobin gulped at the sound of his honey voice.  _ “Did I wake you?” _

_ “No, not at all,” _ Soobin replied. He was barely able to form words in the presence of Kai the angel.  _ “Um, can I request a song?” _

_ “Anything for you, hyung,” _ Kai complied, his guitar at the ready. Soobin chose one that somehow popped into his mind.

_ “‘Nap of a Star’.” _

With that, Kai began to play and sing, his voice and notes devoted to only Soobin. Soobin sat up to hear better, shifting his body to sit right next to Kai. He wanted to be able to hear Kai’s rich, lovely voice as much as possible, not missing a single note of the song nor a single syllable uttered from Kai’s pink lips.

_ “I can see nae ap-e nega eobs-eodo _

_ I feel you amu mal haji anh-ado _

_ Because I believe in you bul-anhaedo _

_ I can touch nun-ap-e nega eobs-eodo _

_ I reach naegeseo meolli tteonado _

_ Neoui gieogman-eulodo nae ma-eum-eun eonjena chumchuneun geol yejeoncheoleom _

_ Neoui naj-jam-i doeeoseo gat-i kkum-eul kkugo sip-eo eonjena _

_ Amu il eobs-eossdan deus-i _

_ No-eul-i jineun jeonyeogdo kamkamhaejin bamhaneuldo _

_ Nae mam-en neolo gadeug cha iss-eo” _

As Kai continued playing, Soobin fell into an entranced, hypnotic-like state. There was so much beauty before him, so much beauty in this one person. It made Soobin feel like he wanted to give the world to Kai, give him all the love and happiness he ever wanted.

Kai finished the song, his fingers perfectly hitting the last note and his voice uttering the last syllable in a sweet melody in a whisper. Turning towards Soobin, Kai’s eyes slightly opened in surprise, as his hyung was now leaning in quite close. A bit too close.

_ “Did you like it, hyung?” _ Kai asked, his large doe eyes shining in the moonlight.

_ “I loved it,” _ was all Soobin said. He stared at Kai as Kai stared back, both of them reflected in each other’s pupils.

_ “Do you love me?” _ Kai asked once more, his voice barely a whisper.

_ “Yes,” _ Soobin said. Both of them were unaware of it, but they were leaning in, about to collide like a meteor hitting the earth.

_ “How much?” _ Kai whispered again.

_ “I’d give the whole universe to you if I could,” _ Soobin whispered.

_ “Then, please. Give it to me,” _ Kai said.

They continued to lean in; neither showed signs of stopping.

They didn’t want to stop.

They didn’t want to end it here.

All they wanted was each other.

And they were about to collide, giving an entire universe to the other.

Soobin swore his lips had brushed Kai’s.

\---

Soobin awoke with an electrifying jolt.

He took a moment to capture his breath and calm his racing heart, wondering whether what he had experienced had been real. Slowly, he sat up and gazed at his surroundings.

This was surely Blue Hour, his own reality. Outside the window, the sky was the usual purple-and-pink with its cotton candy clouds. Soobin made sure to double-check. Yes, this was their house that was made with wood from the purple forest trees. This was definitely his room as his guitar, a silvery gray one with white sparkles dotted randomly, stood proudly in its stand. And this was definitely his bed with the messy white sheets and blue pillows with a Huening Kai laying on the bed and staring back at him.

_ “Hello, hyung!” _ Huening Kai said in a cutesy voice.  _ “Did I wake you?” _

Soobin stared back for a while, unsure of what to say. However, Soobin broke into a wide smile.

_ “No, not at all,” _ Soobin replied. He then launched himself at the younger who yelped in surprise, pulling Kai into a warm hug. He planted a quick peck on Kai’s soft cheek whom turned red and held his cheeks as if he was about to explode.

_ “Hyuuuuuuung!” _ Kai whined.  _ “What’s gotten into you? You were even tossing in your sleep, too.” _

_ “I had a very interesting dream,” _ was all Soobin said.

_ “You gonna tell me?” _ Kai asked.

_ “Nope,” _ Soobin said, popping the P.

_ “Awww, that’s no fun, hyung!” _ Kai whined again, about to throw a fit.  _ “Anyways, everyone’s waiting outside! You’re the last one to get up, c’mon, let’s goooooooo!” _ Kai pulled on Soobin’s sweater sleeve ushering him up and out of the room. Soobin smiled giddily as he let Kai guide him outside.

He would always love Huening Kai, his precious maknae, as long as the universe exists.

\---

Somewhere, out in the vast number of stars, a blue-haired boy dressed in blue and a chocolate-haired boy dressed in white, are locked in a beautiful embrace amidst a purple field with the moon illuminating them.

Love is universal.

In ways you don’t expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have officially fallen down the rabbit hole of Sookai so here's a mini Sookai oneshot for y'all.
> 
> So y'all can suffer.
> 
> Like how I did.
> 
> Nah I'm just joking.
> 
> Maybe not.
> 
> Oh well. I'll be back next week for their dimensional travels.


	5. The Magic Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The five residents of Blue Hour have a shocking trip to the dimension of the Magic Island where a secret awaits them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TXT's 'Magic Island' will be the inspiration for this oneshot.
> 
> **DISCLAIMER: This series has no connection with the actual universe and theories established by TXT and Bighit Entertainment. This is my own interpretation of the settings in the MV with a 'plotline' that will cross over with other TXT MV's.**

_ “I finished the song from that other day!” _ Huening Kai shouted in triumph.

It was another ordinary day for the five boys as they gathered in the clearing hosting their musical instruments. The rest were lounging lazily on top of one another while Kai had been busy at the grand piano. Several notebooks were laid out across the shiny black surface filled with notes and lyrics that Kai wrote by himself. At his announcement, Soobin turned to look at him.

_ “Hmm? What song?” _ he asked.

_ “THAT song!” _ Kai said with more emphasis, as if it would ignite a memory in Soobin’s head. Unfortunately it didn't and Soobin continued staring at Kai questioningly. Kai pouted before giving a huff and sat down on the piano to play an excerpt of the song.

_ “Gieoghae? igos-e issdeon uli _

_ Geunal-ui ulin byeol-ieossji…” _

_ “Ohhh, that one,” _ Soobin said with a grin before standing up to join Kai.  _ “Wah, our maknae is so dedicated.” _

_ “Ya, if it weren’t for me saving you all from your horrible song choices--” _ Beomgyu started.

_ “Oh shush, I’m trying to sleep,” _ Yeonjun mumbled. He pushed down Beomgyu’s head underneath him who gave a muffled cry of protest.

_ “Anyways, continue Kai, I like that song,” _ Taehyun lazily said lying on his side with his eyes closed. Kai continued.

_ “Kkum-eulo bichnadeon geu mellodi _

_ Ij-ji mal-ajwo yeong-wonhi--” _

_ “WAIT!” _ Beomgyu suddenly shouted, using all of his strength to lift his head up from under Yeonjun’s grip.  _ “What time is it right now?” _

At this, everyone froze and hurriedly glanced in the sky at the sun and to the distance where the white curtain would usually be waiting.

_ “It should be 5:53, right?” _ Soobin asked, a hint of fear in his voice. The realization had dawned on all of them. It was supposed to be 5:53 at this point in time. Chief Squirrel had not come to fetch them nor could they see the white curtain in their usual spot. This was most unusual as these two happenings always occurred like clockwork.

_ “I think we should go by ourselves and check,” _ Taehyun solemnly said. The rest didn’t say anything, but were all in agreement. All of them shapeshifted into their fastest animal form: Kai as a unicorn, Yeonjun as a fox cub, Beomgyu as a tiger cub, Soobin as a white puppy, and Taehyun as a squirrel. They dashed off to the white curtain on the other side of the forest as fast as they could.

Kai was now leading the way, his current form the fastest amongst the others, his hooves thumping the ground anxiously. In the distance, he could make out something…. His eyes widened in terror and he quickly came to a halt with a frightened whinny before shapeshifting back into his human form, curled up in a ball. As the rest shapeshifted back into their human forms as well, shock was on everyone’s faces.

Before them, the curtain was now burning. Orange and yellow tendrils of flame lapped at the once-white surface, turning it into black ashes. They watched in fear as the fire rose higher and grew larger, threatening to burn the purple trees of their bright, comforting forest. Yeonjun helped the youngest up before comforting him, hugging his head close as Kai began to cry from fright.

And then all at once, the fire dissipated, taking the remains of the curtain along with it. The part of the Blue Hour forest that supposedly would have been behind the curtain led to somewhere else.

It was like their own forest, but the trees were brown with green leaves. There was no longer any purple that had dominated the plants sprouting from the ground: a kind of green grass, much more coarser than the one they had seen in the dimension with the metal circle, took its place and the only purple that remained was in the small, scrawny flowers that bloomed here and there. The sky was dark; the five boys could only assume this was the ‘nighttime’ they had heard about from Chief before. A cold mist wafted through the area, shocking the boys as it crept around their legs.

_ “I don’t like this,” _ Kai finally spoke. His voice was muffled from holding his sweater paws to his mouth and his eyes slightly red from the tears that had been squeezed out of him.

_ “I don’t like this either,” _ Beomgyu responded.

_ “Me three,” _ Soobin said, clutching to Kai.

_ “I’m going in,” _ Yeonjun said.

_ “WHAT?” _ Kai, Beomgyu, and Soobin yelled.

_ “I want to find out what’s in there. Aren’t you guys at least a bit curious?” _ Yeonjun said, even though the fright in his eyes was very obviously evident.

_ “As much as I hate to admit it, Yeonjun is right this time. Even though it seems like the curtain opens random dimensions to us, I’d like to think there is a reason why a different one shows up each time. The curtain must know this,” _ Taehyun rambled, trying his best to sound brave and reasonable yet hiding the gulp in his throat after he finished. He slowly walked towards the dark forest with Yeonjun following suit.

_ “Fine, just this once. But I’m getting out immediately if there’s anything dangerous in there,” _ Kai said, now clutching Soobin in return as tight as he possibly could.  _ “Probably why Chief Squirrel didn’t come,” _ Kai added, but only muttered this to himself.

Taehyun extended a trembling hand to the forest, his fingers nearly about to touch the edge where it would cross over from the warmth of their dimension to the coldness in the other. Squinting his eyes shut, he pulled back his hand and thrust it across into the other dimension.

Nothing happened. His hand just felt cold now.

Taking courage in this, Yeonjun leapt across and into the green grass where it merely rustled under his weight and movement.

_ “Come on, guys!” _ he motioned, a smile starting to creep across his face. Taehyun followed along with the three scaredy cats huddling together behind. They shivered, the cold mist having slightly penetrated the skin that was still kept warm under their sweaters. They all began to walk in one direction into the dark forest.

It was eerily quiet like the silence after a storm had passed. Not a single sound could be made out except for the rustling of the boys’ footsteps through the grass and the soft wind that blew through the air. They continued walking together like this for a while until Soobin could no longer stand it and he decided to break the silence.

_ “I think we’ve explored enough. We should go back. It’s just a dark, creepy forest in this dimension, let’s go,” _ he hurriedly said, the words falling out of his mouth in terror.

_ “Relax, we’ll be fine,” _ was all Taehyun said in response.

_ “I wholeheartedly agree with Soobin-hyung. I didn’t want to say anything, but I’m really scared right now,” _ Kai said, his bottom lip quivering as he spoke.

_ “I agree, too. There seems to be nothing--  _ **_OOF_ ** _!” _ went Beomgyu. Everyone’s heads whipped towards Beomgyu who was now lying flat on his face in the grass.

_ “What happened?” _ Yeonjun asked as he helped Beomgyu up.

_ “I don’t know. My foot hit something hard and I tripped,” _ Beomgyu groaned.  _ “Ah, I think my ribs got hit somewhere too. Why am I always the one getting hurt or falling down? Huhuhu,” _ Beomgyu whined as he rubbed his aching parts.

_ “Is this metal?” _ Taehyun asked. He had been investigating the thing that Beomgyu had tripped over which was a railroad track (but of course none of them knew this). He knocked on the metal bars and winced when his knuckle collided, the sound echoing in the forest. 

**TONGGGGG**

_ “Yup, it’s definitely metal,” _ he confirmed in pain, rubbing his hand. They had only come across metal from their music instruments prior.

_ “SHHHHHH!” _ Kai shushed.  _ “What if there are other things here? Stop attracting attention to ourselves!” _ he whisper-yelled.

**CRACK, BRUMBLE**

No sooner had he said that when a crack of thunder sounded across the forest and a brief flash of lightning followed. All of them screamed and hugged one another in fright. However, it was enough for the mist to slightly dissipate. As the boys let go of one another once the thunder and lightning passed, they were able to make out their surroundings clearly.

They were still standing in the midst of the dreary brown-and-green trees and the coarse green grass with skinny purple flowers. However, the metal bars of the railroad track could be seen in clear view, the ladder-shaped pattern buried into the dirt ground. The boys’ eyes followed this pattern until they landed on some lumps in the distance. Curiosity having gotten the better of them, they walked together to those lumps before jumping backwards in shock.

Five boys’ bodies lay in the grass together motionless. Their hair and thin clothing blew in the wind, but it seemed they wouldn’t be stirring for a while.

_ “Hyung, why does this one look exactly like me?” _ Kai frightedly asked Soobin, his finger pointed to the boy in the red shirt.

_ “This one looks like me, too,” _ Yeonjun said looking down at the boy with blue hair in a white shirt.

Eventually, all the Blue Hour residents were now looking down at the exact replicas of themselves, people who looked exactly like them in this dimension. No one could say a word for a while as all had been stunned into silence.

Beomgyu took out a piece of paper with some shoeprints drawn on it. Putting the paper side by side with the ones the other him wore, he was even more shocked to find that they matched. Just as Beomgyu was wondering whether he should bring this up with the others, a large gust of wind whipped through the trees, causing all of them to shield their eyes shut and raise their arms.

When they finally opened, the other thems were all gone, vanished without a trace, save for the imprints their bodies had left in the grass.

_ “We need to go,” _ Soobin finally said. No sooner than he had said that, everyone nodded in agreement and began to run off in the direction they came from. They ran faster as they saw the warm light of their beloved forest come into view and sprinted through the opening.

The familiar feeling of warm light enveloping their bodies temporarily eased the panic all five of them felt, relieved they had managed to get back home safely. They glanced back at the opening where the dark forest still remained, glaring back ominously.

**FLIT, FLIT**

The sound of fabric rustling in the air made them all look up. They were pleased to see that the white curtain that led to other dimensions was now back, fluttering down to cover the awful dark forest away from sight. Before long, it sealed itself shut and vanished.

The five boys turned to look at each other. There was much to think about now.

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hohoho, things getting serious now. *insert smiling devil emoji*
> 
> Anyways, from here on out things are going to get kind of dark with their interdimensional travels. Can't have happy-go-lucky all the time.
> 
> Also, hope you guys caught the Easter eggs from this chapter as well as from "What Happens at 5:53 PM". There are things from the MVs I will be using to tie in with my rendition of the TXT universe so be sure to catch them!
> 
> And I promise, if you still don't understand, I will be writing a filler to make up for it soon. Stay tuned and see y'all next week!


	6. Doppelganger Research

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaken from their last trip through the curtain, the five residents of Blue Hour get down to business to find out what's going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **DISCLAIMER: This series has no connection with the actual universe and theories established by TXT and Bighit Entertainment. This is my own interpretation of the settings in the MV with a 'plotline' that will cross over with other TXT MV's.**

_ “Guys, I need to tell you all something,” _ Beomgyu solemnly began.

The five residents of Blue Hour were huddled in a clearing of the forest, the morning-light rays shining upon them. In this clearing was where the five boys kept a small library of various books as well as some bean bag chairs.

There was a section for fairy tales and mythology: Korean, Japanese, Greek, Grimms’, Andersen’s, and many more. A small section in the corner was reserved for English novel series and classics such as  _ The Chronicles of Narnia _ ,  _ The Land of Stories _ ,  _ The Little Prince _ ,  _ The Return of the Young Prince _ ,  _ Alice in Wonderland _ ,  _ Through the Looking Glass _ , and  _ Peter Pan _ (that was actually all this section contained). Another section was for “Lost Books”: books that had been discovered by the boys in the forest that hadn’t belonged to any of them.

And finally, taking up a portion of a shelf row, were recommendations by the Blue Hour dimension itself, courtesy of the Blue Hour wishing well (that’s a story for another time). Here, there were only three books: one blue, one green, and one purple. These books, when combined, magically transformed into one enormous book titled  _ The Dream Chapter _ . The contents were filled with fantastical and, sometimes scary, adventures that always seemed to feature five boys in its tales.

Hence, Beomgyu requested the meeting to be here for a special reason.

_ “From the last trip through the curtain, it’s obvious we weren’t alone. There are people who look exactly like us in other dimensions,” _ Beomgyu shakily explained. “ _ The other day I found a shoeprint that didn’t belong to any of us and it had matched my… _ ”other”  _ self...in that dimension. I think they had travelled to ours before just like we had theirs.” _

There was a pause as Beomgyu took out his drawing of the shoeprint and showed it to everyone.  _ “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you all earlier,” _ Beomgyu said in a sad pout, lowering his head.

_ “It’s fine, hyung. At least we know now,” _ Huening Kai said as he gave Beomgyu a comforting pat on his shoulder. Taehyun nodded with a reassuring smile as he did the same, consoling the sad hyung.

_ “Hmm? Wha?” _ Yeonjun asked, before he gave a yawn. The younger three of the group all turned to look at their hyungs who were each curled up in a bean bag chair. Yeonjun was now stretching and yawning, trying to wake himself up, while Soobin was quietly dozed, his heavy eyelids and long eyelashes drooping. Seeing that the maknae line was starting to glare at them, Yeonjun gave a loud  **PAK** to Soobin’s shoulder who woke with a jolt into an upright position.

_ “Huh? What happened? I was listening,” _ Soobin stuttered, trying to hide the fact he had fallen asleep during Beomgyu’s important announcement.

_ “Aigoo, Beomgyu is already sad enough as he is now. Are you really going to make him repeat what he said?” _ Taehyun scolded, slightly annoyed.

_ “I’m sorry, it’s just…. I’ve been having some weird dreams lately,” _ Soobin said with his head bowed.

_ “Same with me, too. I can’t sleep,” _ Yeonjun whined. Upon closer look, Yeonjun’s and Soobin’s eyes were outlined with dark bags underneath them.

_ “Ah, never mind. I’ll explain again,” _ Huening Kai dismissed with a wave of his hand, summarizing what Beomgyu had told them to the two sleepy elders.

_ “What do you think we should do now, Beomgyu-hyung?” _ Taehyun asked, leaning against him.

_ “I was thinking we could look through the  _ “The Dream Chapter” _. I was reading  _ “Magic” _ and thought there had been something in there that was similar to what we had encountered,” _ Beomgyu replied thoughtfully.

With that, they set off to read  _ The Dream Chapter’s _ contents, poring its pages and illustrations carefully. They looked through each adventure: from the frightening tale of  _ Puma _ to the heartbreaking story of  _ Can’t You See Me? _ to the comical pages of  _ Blue Orangeade _ and to the fantasy of  _ Run Away _ .

At last, Beomgyu found the story he had been looking for.

_ “It’s here!” _ Beomgyu shouted as he motioned for the others to come over. They all huddled around him, his finger bookmarking a story called “Magic Island” which detailed five boys who are magically transported to a magic island by way of a subway train after they had gotten off from school. All of the boys’ eyes crooned over the illustration panel that was carefully drawn on a page. It showed the forest the shapeshifters had traveled to as well as the five “others” laying in the grass like how they had found them.

_ “I think this means the curtain had taken us to the dimension where this story was made real,” _ Taehyun cleverly deduced.

_ “And that illustration of the subway train! In one of my dreams, I was in the subway train viewing his perspective!” _ Soobin announced, pointing at a boy wearing headphones, his other self.

_ “Ah, same. Mine is the blue-haired one. But I saw his perspective in a room filled with desks. Everyone was there too,” _ Yeonjun pitched in.

_ “That’s weird. How come only you two have dreams and we three don’t?” _ Kai asked suspiciously. Both Soobin and Yeonjun shrugged, not sure how to give an explanation themselves.

Beomgyu hurriedly skimmed and flipped through the pages of the story to the end where his eyes widened.

“ _ Here! It says, ‘The five boys were sent back to their world when the magical subway train brought upon them a raging storm to put them to sleep. When they awoke the next day, they shared their eerily similar dream with one another: escaping their troubles of reality to enjoy the happiness given to them in the magic island.’” _ Beomgyu read aloud from the book, tracing his fingertip along the lines of text.

_ “Hah! So I was right!” _ Taehyun triumphantly shouted.

_ “But what does this mean? Are we going to be visiting another story dimension again the next time? Are we going to come into contact with our other selves? And what happens if we do? What are we going to say then?” _ Huening Kai bombarded the rest with all the questions he had been holding in up until that point.

_ “Agh, slow down. We don’t even know yet ourselves,” _ Soobin said, comforting the youngest’s distress.

_ “The other time it was just an ordinary meadow, though. We haven’t seen THAT dimension in any of our stories. How do we know if it will be another story dimension or just a random dimension that we’ve never visited before?” _ Yeonjun questioned.

_ “Guys, whatever happens, we just need to be careful the next time we enter the curtain. And keep a lookout for our other selves. I don’t think we can rely on Chief Squirrel at this point anymore since we haven’t seen him for a few days now. I think it best to read up on these stories as much as we can and be prepared for what’s to come,” _ Taehyun remarked.

At this, the others nodded at Taehyun’s suggestion. They set right to work reading up on every story in The Dream Chapter, memorizing the illustrations and key points and helping one another to do the same.

Eventually, Yeonjun’s and Soobin’s heads, exhausted from the dreams plaguing their mind, laid down to rest on their maknaes’ laps into their first dreamless sleep ever since they came back from the magic island dimension. As if fate had something in store, the dreams were passed on to Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Huening Kai, who dreamed of the alternate lives of their other selves as they slept with their hyungs.

\---

Chief Squirrel awoke, popping his head out of a bunch of snow. Wait, snow? Chief hasn’t seen snow since...since…that day when he was born, before he crossed the white curtain. Shivering in his purple hoodie, he looked around. There was a railroad track next to a train station in the distance. Behind him was a rundown carousel, eerily similar to the carousel he had seen when he last checked for those five shapeshifters in Blue Hour. Whatever the dimension he was in, this definitely wasn’t Blue Hour anymore. But he was determined to find out where in the jumbled-up-mess-of-dimensions he was and get back home.


	7. Sciuridae Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beomgyu and Taehyun have a squirrel/chipmunk language lesson. And things get even more serious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **DISCLAIMER: This series has no connection with the actual universe and theories established by TXT and Bighit Entertainment. This is my own interpretation of the settings in the MV with a 'plotline' that will cross over with other TXT MV's.**

_ “No, no, no. Not like that,” _ Taehyun instructed.

_ “But it’s hard!” _ Beomgyu whined.

_ “I know, but you can’t do that habit. Not around them,” _ Taehyun sighed.

Things were peaceful today in the Blue Hour forest. The light rays that streamed through the trees were glowing more brightly. Birds chirped happily and forest creatures ventured out to find food for the upcoming hibernation season.

The Blue Hour residents usually spent most of this period helping out their fellow woodfolk. Huening Kai usually helped out with the deer, Yeonjun with the foxes, Soobin with the bunnies, and Taehyun with the squirrels. Beomgyu, however, had to work twice as hard as he had to help out both bears and chipmunks.

Although Beomgyu had finished his duty with the bears (they hibernated earlier compared to the other forest animals), he still had to help out his fellow chipmunks still. However, Taehyun’s squirrel friends were unfortunately behind on stocking food this time. As neither Huening Kai, Yeonjun nor Soobin were free during this busy period, Beomgyu and Taehyun decided to both help the squirrels and chipmunks together.

The main problem was that both needed to overcome the dialects, habits, and customs of one another.

_ “Hmmm, let’s go back to the greeting routine one more time. We’ll do one round of squirrel and one round of chipmunk before we continue on the new skills,” _ Taehyun suggested.

_ “Sure, I’ll get it this time. Just you wait, Taehyun-ssi!” _ Beomgyu challenged with a smirk. With that, both of them shapeshifted into their respective animal forms: Beomgyu in chipmunk and Taehyun in squirrel.

Beomgyu began his greeting in squirrel, memorizing the steps Taehyun had spent all morning teaching him. A small tilt of the head and then nibbling with his paws to his mouth - that was “Hello” in squirrel gesture. Taehyun returned the gesture and began an example conversation.

_ “Chit chit chit? sniffle (How are you?)” _

_ “Chit chit, tsk tsk. sniffle (I’m fine, thank you.)” _

_ “Chi chuchu chuchuchu? sniffle (Can you help me?)” _

_ “Chit, chuchu. sniffle (Yes, I can.)” _

_ “Chititititi! sniffle sniffle (Thank you!)” followed by Taehyun’s thorough two wipes from the crown of the head to the nose. _

_ “Chititititi! sniffle sniffle (You’re welcome!)” also followed by Beomgyu’s own two wipes. _

Here, they took a small pause and began the chipmunk example conversation. Beomgyu started first.

_ “Chip! sniffle (Hello!)” _

_ “Chip! sniffle (Hello!)” _

_ “Chu chip? (How are you?)” _

_ “Chip chip. Chu chip? (I’m fine, and you?)” _

_ “Chip chip. Chit chip chichichi? (Can you help me?)” _

_ “Chit chit. (Sure.)” _

_ “Chip chip chip chip! sniffle (Thank you!)” followed by Beomgyu’s scratch on the nose and a wipe. _

_ “Chip chip chip chip! sniffle (You’re welcome!)” followed by Taehyun’s nose scratch and wipe. _

The makeshift conversations ended and Beomgyu and Taehyun shapeshifted back into their human forms.

_ “I’m pretty sure I nailed it this time!” _ Beomgyu announced triumphantly as soon as he grew back into his full size.

_ “Yup, you did! Finally! And me?” _ Taehyun asked.

_ “You can practically be a chipmunk at this rate! And it’s your first try!” _ Beomgyu congratulated Taehyun. He then grabbed Taehyun’s shoulders in excitement and shook them.  _ “We could practically be half-brothers!” _

_ “Awww! You’re making me embarrassed now, haha,” _ Taehyun said modestly, his cheeks slightly pink at Beomgyu’s high praise.

_ “Really, I mean it, Taehyun-ssi,” _ Beomgyu said, squishing Taehyun’s cheeks.

_ “Shtoooob!” _ Taehyun’s muffled voice came out, as he tried to escape Beomgyu’s hands and failed. When Beomgyu finally calmed down, Taehyun straightened himself out.

_ “We still aren’t done yet with the lessons. We need to improve your vocal strength for the calls and we need to practice more varied conversations and gestures. I mean, I know squirrels and chipmunks don’t talk much in general, but still,” _ Taehyun explained.

_ “Arrrgh, first I can’t do my nose wrinkles and now I have to swing my tail?” _ Beomgyu groaned.  _ “Just when I thought squirrel and chipmunk dialects were supposed to be similar…. Wait until Yeonjun-hyung gets a load of this.” _

His groan turned into a sad pout as he tried to give cute, pleading eyes to Taehyun to get him to stop being strict. Unfortunately, the only thing Beomgyu got in return was a hand shoving his face away. Just as the two boys were about to start another playful scuffle, Beomgyu felt a furry object fall on top of his head.

_ “Eh? What? OH MY GOSH, CHIEF SQUIRREL ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” _ Beomgyu yelled out loudly in shock when he realized the exhausted body of Chief Squirrel was in his hand.

_ “Shout a bit louder, why don’t you,” _ Taehyun sarcastically said while closing his ears.  _ “Here, put him on the ground. Let me see if I can talk to him.” _

Beomgyu did as asked, gently laying the limp squirrel on a random tuft of grass, while Taehyun shapeshifted back into his squirrel form. Taehyun poked and sniffed everywhere around Chief Squirrel, bringing him back into consciousness.

It was a couple of minutes later (after a lot of poking, sniffing, and chittering) when Taehyun finally shapeshifted back into his human form, his face now etched in worry.

_ “Chief Squirrel needs to get some rest and warm himself up. He’s freezing all over and he can’t move anything,” _ Taehyun hurriedly scooped up the Chief and dragged Beomgyu along by his sweater sleeve.

_ “What happened? Did it have something to do with why he wasn’t around recently?” _ Beomgyu asked, trying to keep up with the anxious Taehyun.

_ “I don’t know. He mentioned something about ‘more rifts between the dimensions’ and that ‘the real one will soon be here’,” _ Taehyun responded gravely. Beomgyu’s eyes widened in fear. At this point, none of the residents were any stranger to the recent, weird happenings with the dimensions the curtain had taken them to.

_ “Let’s let Chief Squirrel rest at our house. We need to find the others and tell them,” _ Beomgyu replied. The two rushed off as fast as they could. The talk of dimensions no longer excited them as it had before, now that things were getting much more serious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the announcement in 4QOJ, this fic will be on temporary hiatus until further notice as I have to catch up on schoolwork. See you guys when I get back ;)


End file.
